Draíocht Blog

Audience Member Carmel Hogan is back again with another fantastic review, this time for 'The Girl Who Forgot to Sing Badly' by Theatre Lovett.

The Girl Who Forgot to Sing Badly

A review

On 28th February 2015, I had the pleasure of bringing my daughter and two granddaughters (aged 5 and 7) to The Girl Who Forgot to Sing Badly.

It was a delightful and highly innovative show. Louis Lovett who perform this one man show, engaged beautifully with the children AND adults in the audience. He entranced and captivated us all. We were totally with him in his journey as Peggy O’Hegarty. There was even panto-like enthusiasm in the responses to the various questions s/he asked. The serial repetition of sequences – such as breakfast – was perfect as it led the children to predict what would come next and be charmed when they were correct or tickled when they were not. The story line shows humour, pathos, tragedy and in the end, the overcoming of huge challenges. Just the kind of narrative to appeal to children. And we adults loved it too.

The set was clever and the way it was incrementally revealed added to its magic. How something so innately simple could have such a sophisticated impact is still a wonder to me. Each piece fitted beautifully into the next and as it changed, we all moved from being with Peggy at home to the van to the deserted city, to the floundering ship with ease. The use of red lighting for the “bloody” scene was pure genius and highly effective.

The show is beautifully written by Finegan Kruckemeyer and from start to finish a success. It engaged our two little ladies to the degree that although the elder child was evidently brewing something, she wouldn’t miss a moment. Once we left the theatre, it was clear she was unwell and she spent the rest of the weekend in bed. However, she hung on valiantly till the very end before she expressed any distress.

Once again, a big Thank You to Draiocht for presenting this wonderful show and to all those involved for the super production.

Would you like to write a review for Draíocht? ... Pop us an email to marketing@draiocht.ie ... we'd be delighted to hear from you.

Audience Member Carmel Hogan had such a fantastic time at 'Underneath' last week, she wrote us this wonderful review! Too good not to share!
'Underneath' by Fishamble: The New Play Company is currently touring Ireland ... read more ... here ...

"We saw an amazing production on Valentine’s night. It was our first visit to Draíocht, but it will definitely not be our last – the theatre is a great facility and a real hidden gem. Even though we’d never been there before, it’s obviously well reputed as there was a full house and from the conversations overheard in the foyer, for many of the audience a visit to Draíocht was a regular event.

UNDERNEATH, written and performed by Pat Kinevane, is a work of genius. The fact that he can play a woman and be totally believable is a testament to his talent in both writing and acting. The atmosphere moved from poignant to funny, from spine chilling to close to the bone contemporaneous humour in the blink of an eye. The story held us from start to finish. We empathised with her and laughed with her, we cried and waited for the next line over and again. Pat Kinevane had us riveted to the stage for the entire hour and forty minutes he was on. His stage presence is great and his ability to engage his audience was a delight.

If this is the calibre we can expect from Pat Kinevane, we will be watching to see when he is coming again. And if this is the standard performed at Draíocht, we will definitely be visiting again and soon.

Thank you for such a wonderfully pleasurable night."

Carmel Hogan
Draíocht Audience Member
14 February 2015

Would you like to write a review for Draíocht? ... Pop us an email to marketing@draiocht.ie ... we'd be delighted to hear from you.

10 Reasons to See ‘The Girl Who Forgot to Sing Badly’ by Theatre Lovett, coming to Draíocht this weekend ...

Reason 1. Why not?

Reason 2. Your friend may get to see it, love it, rave about it, wave the fact that they’ve seen it and you haven’t in your face, go on and on and on about it ad nauseam. Just get in there first and head that whole chestnut off at the PASS.

Reason 3. Apparently, it’s brilliant.

Reason 4. Its truly uplifting.

Reason 5.If you like boxes? Or indeed boxes within boxes? Or have a penchant for woodwork? And are impressed by design wizardry at it’s most wickedly “Now why couldn’t I have done that?” way. Then go see it.

Reason 6.The set-design is pretty cool.

Reason 7.
To sit back and be treated to a compendium of Sound, Lights, Set, Story and Performance that goes together like fingers in a yummy pie.

Reason 8.
If you like invisible drum-kits.

Reason 9.
If you and your granny or your friend or your dad or your younger sister or any of your family and any of your friends want to laugh your socks off at the same thing at the same time and at the same place and at the same funny man who’s sweating his socks off not three feet in front of you. Phew.

Reason 10.
To see if a brave little girl called Peggy can muster up all that it takes to save all those people that are dear to her too.

Reviews from New York ... of 'In Acting Shakespeare' coming to Draiocht in 2 weeks on 15 October 2014 ...

I highly recommend this wonderful show!
'I loved this one man show. I found it clever, funny, touching, heartfelt and informative. I thought the stage craft was excellent. The interweaving of William Shakespeare's life with Mr DeVita's was satisfying. I enjoyed very much the imagined scene in which Shakespeare rehearses Hamlet with Richard Burbage. And I found touching Mr DeVita's reverence for listening in the theater. The theme that parents, especially fathers, are never happy when sons go into the theater, was effectively illustrated. Mr DeVita has given the audience a gift by demonstrating how it is that an actor works, overcoming obstacles both professional and personal, to be someone authentic and understandable on the stage ... I would highly recommend this show to everyone. Young people would enjoy it immensely. A great introduction to Shakespeare and the power and craft of the theater.
– Bill Merrill, New York ...

It's Passion that makes it work.Mr. DeVita ... is a very high energy person and one can only imagine what his energy must have been like when he was 19 years old ... it was a very moving evening of intelligent theatre. Mr. DeVita has a wonderful story to tell. He is a very talented actor. He uses his voice, his body, and WORDS to full advantage. He is funny. He is sincere. I am in the theatre myself and I could relate many times to his story. The ups and downs. The tenacity it takes. The hard work. The hours and hours of training that turn into years and years and then decades and decades. Mr. DeVita has a very obvious passion for Shakespeare. His passion, like most genuine passions, becomes infectious. Mr. DeVita is not aiming his show for the consumption of other Shakespearean actors. Or fancy reviewers. His show is aimed at those who might not be comfortable listening to Shakespeare. I see over 50 shows a year. I still have difficulty sitting through most productions of Shakespeare. He makes the point, using his own life experiences, that Shakepeare wrote about the same situations and emotions we deal with today. The human condition is much the same in many ways as it was in his day. Yes we are more comfortable, but we still mourn at loss and we still laugh when something is funny. If you prick us, do we not still bleed? I congratulate Mr. DeVita for his passion. If only more people had his passion for what they do. If only more people had the perseverance and tenacity Mr. DeVita has shown in his life, this world would be a better place.– George Spelvin, NYC

On Saturday 17th of May we went to see the play 'A Night in November' which was presented by Ramor Theatre at Draiocht. This hilarious one man show is about Kenneth McAllister’s rebellious journey as he travels from Windsor Park in Belfast which is his home county to Doran's Bar in New York to see 'Jacks Army' in their quest to win the 1994 World Cup. Kenneth is a regular middleclass man who seems to be in the middle of a midlife crisis and has to choose between what he thinks is right and what others want him to do.

Before entering the theatre I was unsure as to what to expect from ‘A Night in November’. I realised straight away that the play was going to surpass my expectations. ‘A Night in November' is about one man’s journey to find himself. This was portrayed beautifully by McIntyre. I was impressed by McIntyre’s dedication to his role in the play.

Kenneth seems to be a coward and is not able to express how he truly feels. One of the many characters McIntyre plays is Kenneth's inner voice and through a number of insightful soliloquies we see how frustrated Kenneth is with his life. It is a testament to McIntyre’s talent that he powerfully sustains this one man show with minimal props (a set of steps) and one costume change. McIntyre makes the most out of those three steps by turning them into a car, an office and stadium seating.

I would recommend this play to people who want to get inside the head of an average person. The entertaining and sometimes poignant insights into Kenneth’s thoughts will engage audiences of all ages. McIntyre’s convincing use of props combined with his powerful delivery made 'A Night in November' a night to remember.